Scottish Executive

Cancer

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20750 by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 February 2002 and in relation to the levels and trends of new patient referrals accepted or planned for each whole-time equivalent NHS consultant oncologist in the North Glasgow University Hospital NHS Trust and the Greater Glasgow NHS Board areas (a) from whom the information will be derived and (b) what mechanisms it has put in place (i) for Dr Bryson and the board and trust to report to it and (ii) for assessments to be carried out on any such reports.

Malcolm Chisholm: All NHS Scotland organisations responsible for patient services are required to provide activity data via Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) to the Information and Statistics Division, NHS Scotland.

  It is a matter for NHS boards to use all available sources of information in planning healthcare services required to meet the assessed needs of their resident populations.

  Six additional consultant oncology posts were created from the first year’s investment plans to support implementation of Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change. It is expected that appointments to these posts will drive down the current levels of new referrals per consultant at the Beatson.

  During the term of his appointment as Medical Director at the Beatson Oncology Centre, Dr Adam Bryson reports directly to the Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow, Mr Tom Divers. The NHS Performance Assessment Framework provides the focus for annual accountability reviews with NHS boards.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20103 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2002, why the information requested regarding whether the 10 extra cancer treatment consultant posts have all been successfully filled, on whether the target for eight out of the 10 extra consultants to be employed in the specialities of radiology and histopathology has been achieved and on the number of trainee radiographers there were in 2000-01, is currently not available, given the initial information provided in answer to question S1W-9585 by Susan Deacon on 25 September 2000.

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20103 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2002, when it will announce whether the 10 new cancer treatment consultant posts announced by Susan Deacon on 25 September 2000 have been filled.

Malcolm Chisholm: The answer given to question S1W-20103 reflected the difficulty in obtaining full information timeously at the time of drafting of the answer. I am pleased to give the information requested, which I have now been able to obtain.

  Following the answer given to question S1W-9585, further discussions were held both within the Executive and with our health service colleagues to fully assess the location and specialty breakdown for the new consultant posts to be established. As a result of these discussions, it was decided that the funding announced in June 2000 should be specifically targeted to create an additional six posts in cancer services, two for the establishment of a national retrieval service for the transport of critically ill children and two in immunology. Further and substantial new funding in cancer services was also announced on 3 July 2001, to support the implementation of Cancer in Scotland: Action for Change.

  In full consultation with the three regional cancer networks, the services provided for patients with cancer have been enhanced by the equivalent of six additional whole time consultant posts as a direct result of this funding. The allocation of two of the consultant posts in the national retrieval service made it possible for the service to commence formally at the beginning of May 2001. Of the two posts targeted for immunology services, the advertisement for one has been instructed and discussions are continuing to achieve the most effective use of the other post to support services.

  The higher education institutions have advised that 99 pre-registration student radiographers began training in academic year 2000-01. I also refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-22801 today.

Cancer

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20103 by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2002, when it will be able to provide the information sought on the number of trainee radiographers in 2000-01.

Malcolm Chisholm: The higher education institutions have advised that the pre-registration student radiographer training population in 2000-01 for levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 training was 351.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 10% reduction in the total allocated catch for nephrops in 2001 will be re-instated for 2002.

Ross Finnie: At last December's Fisheries Council, the commission proposed reductions in various Nephrops total allocated catch (TAC). In line with the scientific advice, the UK argued successfully for increases on these commission proposals. The outcome for 2002 was a Nephrops TAC in the North Sea restored to 2000 levels, and a Nephrops TAC West of Scotland restored to 2001 levels but lower than the TAC for 2000.

Health

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the expert group on acute services reviews will have a role in respect of tracking and reporting on the (a) impacts of service changes and (b) co-ordination of NHS specialisms included in the service reviews.

Malcolm Chisholm: I am presently considering the role of the expert group on service reconfiguration.

Health

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the expert group on acute services reviews will report on any recommendations made by health boards with regard to in-patient bed capacities and the service implications of such capacities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The role of the expert group is presently under consideration, and I hope to be able to make an announcement in the near future.

Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20219 by Lewis Macdonald on 1 February 2002, what the extent and nature are of the aviation experience of the two members of the Board of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd with such experience.

Lewis Macdonald: One of the board members of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) had 17 years’ experience in aviation with helicopter, airline and oil companies prior to his appointment. The other member had six years’ experience with an airline.

Judicial Appointments

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the ad-hoc Judicial Appointments Board invited applicants for appointment to the supreme courts to declare membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society and whether any such declaration by any of the candidates was made.

Mr Jim Wallace: No such information was requested and none was volunteered.

Judicial Appointments

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider directing the Judicial Appointments Board to require applicants for appointment to the supreme, sheriff and district and minor courts to disclose membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.

Mr Jim Wallace: I will give consideration to this once the membership of the Judicial Appointments Board has been finalised.

Judicial Appointments

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider inviting current office holders in the supreme, sheriff and district and minor courts to disclose membership of Freemasonry and any other secret society.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have no plans to take action on this matter at present.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the benefits of weekend detention and home curfews for persons convicted of minor non-violent criminal offences, with particular reference to rehabilitation and recidivism.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have made no assessment of the benefits of weekend detention. Restriction of Liberty Orders will be introduced as a community disposal for courts across Scotland from May 2002. Electronic monitoring will be used to check compliance. We also plan to extend the availability of electronic monitoring for use as a condition in community disposals and for offenders released on licence.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18674 by Colin Boyd QC on 1 February 2002, how many cases relating to a contravention of section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 were reported to the Procurators Fiscal in the City of Edinburgh and how many were dealt with by (a) a warning letter, (b) a fixed penalty notice and (c) the service of a complaint or petition, in each year since 1997.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service does not collect statistical information broken down by reference to particular crimes or offences. To provide the information requested it will be necessary to prepare and run a special computer programme. This will provide numbers of cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal at Edinburgh; the numbers will include offences committed outwith the city of Edinburgh but within the jurisdiction of the Procurator Fiscal there. It will not be possible to provide information for 1997.

  The available information will be provided shortly.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22081 by Mrs Elish Angiolini QC on 4 February 2002, how many reports were submitted to the Lothian and Borders Regional Procurator Fiscal regarding alleged offences under section 41 (1) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967; in respect of how many such reports were prosecutions proceeded with by the service of a complaint or petition, and how many such reports resulted in a conviction, in each year since 1997.

Mrs Elish Angiolini QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service does not collect statistical information broken down by reference to particular crimes or offences. Thus, information about the numbers of reports of offences under section 41(1) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 is not routinely available.

  Information is available from the Scottish Executive Criminal Statistics Division in relation to convictions under section 41(1) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967: the following table provides the numbers of persons with a charge proved where the main offence was under section 41(1) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 in the Lothian and Borders Police Force area.

  


Section


1997


1998


1999


2000




41(1) A


389


456


382


380




41(1) B


17


6


11


9




Total


406


462


393


389

Lifelong Learning

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement the trade unions have had in developing the new Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) is represented on the Joint Advisory Committee which is overseeing the development of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

NHS Staff

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual expenditure was on the employment of doctors, nurses and midwives hired from the private sector in order to provide NHS services in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on expenditure on the employment of doctors, nurses, and midwives hired from the private sector is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive Health Department.

NHS Staff

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total bill was for the NHS of employing agency nursing staff in (a) 1998-99, (b) 1999-2000, and (c) 2000-01.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the cost of agency nursing and midwifery staff used by the NHSScotland was collected for the first time for the financial year 2000-01. The cost of agency nurses for the financial year 2000-01 is £19,028,372. Data for 2000-01 has recently been made available on ISD online and can be viewed on:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/isd/NHSiS_resource/workforce/workforce_statistics.htm.

  Employers are expected to employ permanent staff. Before an agency nurse is employed, employers should have gone through the criteria for employing bank and agency nurses set out in the Accounts Commission report Temporary Measures, which was published in February 2000. The criteria are:

  flexible rota management;

  asking part-time staff to work extra hours;

  sharing staff across wards or departments;

  appointing a bank nurse;

  offering overtime to existing staff, and

  appointing an agency nurse.

  Use of agency nurses will be monitored as part of the staff Governance Standard.

Rail Network

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the results of the consultation on priorities for the development of the passenger rail network have yet been presented to the Strategic Rail Authority.

Lewis Macdonald: Strategic Priorities for Scotland's Passenger Railway: Response to the Consultation Paper was published in June 2001 and a copy was sent to the Strategic Rail Authority.

Rail Services

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the more than 30-year-old Mark 1 slam-door carriages are still in operation.

Lewis Macdonald: These are operational matters for the rail industry. I understand, however, that no such carriages are used by operators of rail passenger franchises in Scotland.

Road Safety

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20486 by Lewis MacDonald on 12 December 2001, whether it will instruct BEAR Scotland Ltd to undertake an urgent investigation of the A90 Friarton Bridge area in light of the most recent fatal accident.

Lewis Macdonald: Following the fatal road accident which occurred on 5 February 2002, BEAR has been asked to undertake an urgent review of all recent accidents in the vicinity of Friarton Bridge, in conjunction with Tayside Police, and to provide a report outlining what, if any, action is recommended.

Road Safety

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-4170 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 November 2001, when it now expects to publish the results of the camera surveillance exercise of the A9 at Ballinluig Junction.

Lewis Macdonald: The A9 Ballinluig Junction camera surveillance report will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre by 28 February 2002.

Taxation

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government about the implementation of the proposed Community Investment Tax Credit and what the outcome of any such discussions has been.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the proposed Community Investment Tax Credit. In his Pre-Budget Report in November 2001 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the tax credit will be introduced in the 2002-03 tax year. Accreditation of Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) to benefit from the tax credit will be conducted on a UK-wide basis by the Small Business Service (SBS). Officials of the Scottish Executive and the other devolved administrations have been involved in the development of the accreditation processes and will continue to be involved in implementation.

Waste Management

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to take forward the implementation of the National Waste Strategy.

Ross Finnie: Implementation of the National Waste Strategy is well under way, with most draft area waste plans expected to be published by the end of March. The draft plans will then be integrated into a National Waste Plan for Scotland. The integration process will be carried out by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and will ensure that the area plans are consistent and together meet the strategy’s objectives.

  I have decided to establish a high-level Scottish Waste Strategy Advisory Group, which I shall chair, to assist me to ensure the strategy is being effective and to advise on any changes which might be required as it develops. I envisage the group consisting of representatives of key stakeholders in the waste field, including local government, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Scottish Environmental Services Association, Enterprise Agencies, the Institute of Waste Management, NGOs, CBI Scotland, the Recycling Advisory Group Scotland, and REMADE Scotland. The group will initially meet some three times over the next year and its composition and remit will be reviewed at that stage.

Water Authorities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22092 by Ross Finnie on 4 February 2002, whether it will list the range of environmental, technical and financial criteria which were used to identify the best overall options for the Katrine Water Project.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for West of Scotland Water. The Chief Executive’s response is as follows:

  Further to the answer given to question S1W-22092 on 4 December 2002, and as described in Chapter 2 and in Annex D of the Environmental Statement submitted with the planning application, the criteria utilised in the identification of the best overall project option for the Katrine Water Project are as follows:

  1. Environmental

  Impacts on people

  Impact on residents

  Impact on commercial or other property

  Impact on recreation facilities and other community land uses

  Impact of construction traffic

  Visual impact

  Severance and disruption

  Impacts on the natural environment and cultural heritage

  Impact on agricultural resources and farming

  Risk from ground contamination

  Impact on aquatic environment

  Impact on ecological resources

  Impact on landscape resources

  Impact on historic and cultural resources

  Impacts on resources/ Global climate impact

  Energy consumption and CO2 emissions in operation

  2. Technical

  Ground conditions

  Groundwater problems

  Geotechnical problems

  Land availability

  Temporary land requirements

  Permanent land requirements

  Accessibility

  Ownership

  Topography

  Suitability of site topography

  Availability of services

  Accessibility of utilities

  Impact on existing utilities

  Effluent disposal

  Overflow disposal

  Ease of connection

  Raw water transfer

  Treated water transfer

  3. Financial

  Capital cost

  Relative cost of construction in £ million at 2001 prices

  Operating cost

  Indicative relative costs of operation

  Net Present Cost 

  Whole life cost in £ million at 2001 prices including capital and operating costs

  NPV annualised over the whole lifetime of the works 40 years at 6% discount rate

  Risk

  Estimate of the level of risk (uncertainty) attached to the cost estimates based on possible events that might impact on costs (delay, technical problems, etc).

Water Authorities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, given that the proposed Milngavie water treatment plant will have a storage capacity of over 350 tonnes of chemicals, including chlorine and alum, (a) what plans the West of Scotland Water Authority will put in place to ensure adequate security and (b) what plans the West of Scotland Water Authority will put in place to prevent possible spillages or leakages.

Ross Finnie: Under the Security and Emergency Measures (Water and Sewerage Authorities) (Scotland) Direction 1998, water authorities are required to make, keep under review and revise plans to ensure the provision of essential water supplies and sewerage services. The existing plans provide for adequate security of chemicals and will be revised for the new works.

  The design, construction and operation of the new works will also need to comply with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999.

  During the design and construction of the works a full Hazard and Operability study will be also be undertaken.

  The current treatment facility is covered by detailed West of Scotland Water Emergency Planning and site-based emergency planning procedures in the event of emergency spillage’s actually occurring. These plans will be fully revised in advance of the new works coming into operation.

Water Authorities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration the West of Scotland Water Authority gave to matters of demand management when it determined the size of the proposed new water treatment plant at Milngavie.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for West of Scotland Water (WoSW). The Chief Executive’s response is as follows:

  The proposed new water treatment plant at Milngavie has been sized to meet expected demand over the foreseeable future. This has resulted in a 390 Ml/d demand which is being accommodated by utilising 150 Ml/d spare capacity at Balmore Water Treatment Works (WTW) and building a new 240Ml/d plant at Milngavie. Traditional ways of sizing treatment plants were to allow for treating 110% of the reliable yield of the catchment feeding the works. This methodology would have indicated a need for 490 Ml/d capacity, i.e. a new plant at Milngavie with 340 Ml/d capacity.

  Domestic demand is the product of population times the amount consumed per head. Projections show the supply population to be falling and recent thinking suggests per capita water consumption will be near static. The overall effect is expected to be marginally falling future demand. The GRO standard figures were used as a basis and these were modified through extensive additional consultation and consideration of WoSW historical data. Current water demands are available in the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan 2000 and also in the Scottish Office – Scottish Domestic Consumption Study. However, Katrine Water Project and WoSW also undertook studies to establish Per Capita Consumption figures.

  Industrial and commercial demand is mainly through metered supplies so we have reliable figures for this element. No allowance has been made for future increases in commercial demand.

  One aspect of the supply volume which we can influence is leakage. There is an overall target for reduction in leakage of between 50 and 70 Ml/d for the whole Glasgow network. This has been determined as the economic level of leakage after extensive studies by RPS Limited. The target for the areas directly supplied by Milngavie WTW is 43 Ml/d. This has been taken into account in determining the level of supply required from the Katrine Water Project.

  It should also be noted that demand is not constant and there are considerable seasonal and daily variations. Short-term peaks frequently occur and the whole system has to be capable of maintaining supply under all conditions short of the most catastrophic of incidents. To size the new works to accommodate short-term peaks would necessitate building a larger plant. As an alternative, treated water reservoirs are used to attenuate the short-term peaks in demand. The sizing of the new plant is a carefully calculated balance between treatment capacity of the plant and the storage capacity of the reservoirs.

Water Authorities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the full environmental statement submitted by the West of Scotland Water Authority in connection with its proposed new water treatment plant at Milngavie should be made available for public inspection on the Water Authority’s website and whether such electronic access should be made available in respect of all major engineering works.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for West of Scotland Water. The Chief Executive’s response is as follows:

  It would not be practical to place an electronic copy of the full Environmental Statement from the planning application for the Katrine Water Project on the authority’s website as it has a file size of over 156 megabytes. This is a very large file, being 500 times the size of the current Water Bill on the Scottish Parliament’s website. In practise, if it were put on the authority’s website it would overload the system.

  To download this file with a high speed ISDN line could take an hour, and with a standard modem over a phone line connection it could take 10 hours.

  As the Environmental Statement is only one part of the planning application then, it could be reasoned, that the whole planning application should be made available electronically. The planning application comprises files totalling 347 MB.

Water Authorities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all five bidders who responded to the invitation to bid for the Katrine Water Project proposed the construction of a new water treatment plant at Milngavie.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for West Of Scotland Water. The Chief Executive’s response is as follows:

  In their tender returns to West of Scotland Water, none of the bidders made any specific proposals to construct a water treatment plant at Milngavie since they were not asked to.

  Specifically, the OJEC notice for this project (issued in December 1999) states the following:

  (a) The contract is likely to include for project development as well as the design, construction and commissioning of a potable water treatment facility with associated pumping station(s), storage tank(s) and pipelines. It is the authority’s intention to enter into a partnering agreement with the successful tenderer.

  (b) It is intended that the initial award will include participation in the project development and option appraisal and will result in a full design with target completion costs. It is anticipated that the same tendering entity responsible for producing the design will be instructed to construct the works.

  (c) The purpose of the works is to upgrade the existing water supply to the greater Glasgow area in line with current and future UK and EU legislation relating to water quality.

  The tendering process adopted by West of Scotland Water was explained to Mr McNulty in reply to his letter of 15 November 2001.

Youth Crime

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to support and fund the extension of partnerships such as the Challenging Offending through Support and Intervention Project, developed jointly by North Lanarkshire Council Social Work Department and Barnardos, to other local authority areas.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive is investing £23.5 million over the four years to 2004 to support the development across Scotland of programmes such as CHOSI for persistent offenders. Our Action Programme to reduce youth crime, published in January 2002, states that we will provide an interim report on the use of the first slice of this investment. This will be available within the next two months.